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superyacht regatta,’ says Young. A parallel event for motoryachts is also planned. Then another massive setback with the government refusing to
make border concessions to enable the Youth America’s Cup to go ahead. With then commodore Ian Cook undertaking the design and construction of a foiling prototype for the event, Young was tasked with the commercial and political negotiations, which involved multiple agencies including the Ministries of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), Immigration, Foreign Affairs and Trade, Tourism… plus Auckland City Council! ‘Those discussions began 18 months ago and continued to ramp
up until over the past few weeks I was in virtually daily discussions with them all – and early indications were positive,’ says Young. International support was massive. Nineteen teams representing
13 countries signed up and paid entry fees, with two more willing to pay late-entry penalties to join in. Intense behind-the-scenes lobbying continued in an effort to reverse the government’s shutting down of the youth event, the logic of which, Young says, defies understanding. ‘On the one hand, they said because the government was not
contributing any funding for the youth event, it was not an official part of the America’s Cup regatta… which is a real head-scratcher.
this year will not be the stage where shipyards and accessory brands present their novelties. Valencia started organising a boat show four years ago with a
more modest character, living in the shadow of the one organised by Barcelona. But an initiative that started last December has suddenly placed it in front of all the big European and world shows. The Virtual Valencia Boat Show was conceived as a complement to its physical hall, but now it has become its own unique product. ‘When we had the idea we never imagined the situation that arose a few months later,’ explains its director, Nacho Gómez. ‘We wanted to improve our product, and Valencia city and the
local marine companies approved the idea. Now a small idea that started timidly has grown and will mark a milestone as it will be the first 100 per cent virtual boat show, not a portal with links to the brands’ websites. In addition, there will be online conferences, debates and presentations. The situation has overwhelmed us a bit, because we have gone from a small display for the Spanish industry to be a unique worldwide opportunity!’ Covid will be controlled by vaccines, and our lives will return to
normal. Also sailing, racing and boat shows. Physical boat shows will return, we will go up and touch the new boats. Customers, sellers and dealers will see each other and talk face to face. But from now on the virtual Valencia Boat Show will co-exist with the physical shows… It is a nice story.
Mr Efficiency We were able to speak to Didac Costa during a break in his firefighter duties a few days after finishing his qualification for the Vendée Globe. Yes, because his new project is still very limited financially and he cannot dedicate himself full time to sailing. The combination of his profession and his accumulated miles on the oceans give a clue to his determination and calm character, characteristics of someone who is used to living successfully in a dangerous environment. But sailing is a mechanical sport and Didac has a mythical
Dynasty… The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron’s incoming commodore Aaron Young has a suitable pedigree to spearhead the revival of high-performance racing in Auckland. He is the grandson of yacht designer Jim Young, renowned for innovative high-performance designs starting with the breakthrough light displacement 34-footer Tango (1954) before going on to more radical designs – including the infamously wild Rocket 31s and New Zealand’s most popular one-design keelboat, the Young 88
Their other argument was that there were plenty of good sailors in New Zealand, therefore no need to bring in foreign sailors.’ He shakes his head at the sheer perversion of that argument.
‘Let’s just get the All Blacks to play the All Blacks. Bizarre.’ Ivor Wilkins
SPAIN Living virtually Living with a pandemic, some of our habits have changed. One is the rise of the internet in our lives, with teleconferences and the staggering increase in e-commerce. In addition to many regattas we’ve also seen the cancellation of autumn boat shows. South - ampton, Cannes, La Rochelle, Barcelona and METS in Amsterdam
26 SEAHORSE
machine. Christened by Ellen MacArthur in 2000, although the Kingfisher is one of the oldest boats in the fleet, she can proudly boast to having completed the most round-the-world races. Twice the Vendée Globe and three times the Barcelona World Race and without a single retirement… like its current skipper who has twice raced solo or two-handed around the world and both times completed the course. Seahorse:How is the final preparation for the Vendée Globe going? Didac Costa:With a lot of work, but no more than is normal in the days before the start with a project as modest as our own. SH: You just finished the mandatory qualification for the Vendée… but it looked more like 2,000 miles in slow motion? DC: The lack of time left me no opportunity to qualify in stronger winds. In the middle of August it was absurd to think of leaving the Mediterranean for the Atlantic, since those 1,000 miles before the ocean would also have been with little wind and then without any guarantee of finding more wind for the remaining 1,000 miles in the Atlantic. So instead I had 13 long days sailing around the Balearic Islands! The first two days there was very little wind, I barely completed 200 miles, but we had no more time left to postpone qualifying hoping for better conditions. SH: Has your old boat changed very much? DC: Unlike for the previous Vendée Globe, this time we have had more time to prepare the boat. The first time we could only check it, without really modifying anything. The aim of the refit was to lighten and simplify things. Our most significant development is the elimination of the daggerboards – with the boxes and systems they were just too heavy for a mostly downwind race. The Vendée Globe course has few miles upwind and adjusting
the keel the lift is not so bad. I think the weight savings across the course will more than compensate for the loss of performance on some upwind miles. It has also allowed us to lower the boat’s centre of gravity and simplify the manoeuvres. We have also changed the motor, now it is smaller and lighter, plus swapped the saildrive transmission for a traditional shaft. Now
IVOR WILKINS
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